Out of the Woods
by Ariadnerue
Summary: Korra/Asami, oneshot. Sometimes, they were so young and so in love that Korra forgot the necklace and the ring were in her pocket at all.


_Everything is Taylor Swift lyrics and nothing hurts._

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><p>They'd only been dating for a year when Korra made a betrothal necklace for Asami.<p>

She didn't do it all at once. She picked a dark red ribbon for the necklace and a pale silvery stone for the charm. She worked on it slowly, carving the charm by hand instead of using bending. The design was simple but elegant, based on the waterbending emblem but with three small cogs in the place of the three spiraling waves above the water.

And by the time she finished, she had decided that it was ridiculous and outdated and obviously she should just give her an engagement ring. That was the most common practice in the United Republic, something that had carried over from both the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation.

She kept the necklace, of course. Just in case.

They'd been together for almost two years when Korra finished the ring. She made it herself, just like the necklace, but she used metalbending this time. It had been just as difficult as hand-carving the charm on the necklace since the work was so small and intricate. But it was simple and elegant, too, two slender silver bands, one dark and one light, braided together to look rather like the Spirit Portal they'd walked into together once upon a time.

And by the time she finished, she panicked and convinced herself they were moving way too fast and it was ridiculous to even think that someone as perfect as Asami Sato would want to marry her in the first place.

She ended up carrying both objects with her everywhere. Just in case.

She kept waffling back and forth between presenting Asami with one or the other or neither. Being the Avatar made it hard for her to identify strongly with one particular custom, and she couldn't decide if Asami would think the necklace was charming or think the ring was lovely or just laugh in her face for bringing up the idea.

But no, Asami would never laugh in her face. She was being stupid. Of course Asami loved her and wanted to spend the rest of her life with her.

And then the argument in her head would start all over again.

Sometimes, they were so young and so in love that Korra forgot the necklace and the ring were in her pocket at all.

Like the time they were lying on Asami's couch and she decided to test a new instant camera prototype and some internal mechanism malfunctioned and set the blasted thing on fire in the middle of their apartment and Korra had laughed so hard that Asami forgot to be upset about the spectacular failure of her design and just laughed with her until her sides hurt.

Other times, they were so young and so in love that Korra could feel the weight of the necklace and the ring like they were a hundred pounds.

Like the time they'd been arguing late into the night and Asami's favorite song came on the radio and they shoved the furniture to the edges of the room and danced for hours and laughed and kissed until they were dizzy and exhausted and couldn't remember why they'd been arguing in the first place.

Sometimes, when Korra slid a hand into her pocket and closed her fingers around the jewelry, the stone charm and the metal ring were cool to the touch like they'd never been handled before.

Like the time Asami had been driving them to lunch and a child had run into the road in front of them and the brakes squealed and the next thing Korra remembered was lying in a hospital bed with a headache. Her head had apparently connected hard with the edge of the dashboard and left her with a nasty gash on her forehead and Asami had panicked and brought her to the hospital because even though she was a healer she was also unconscious and couldn't very well heal herself when she was unconscious and as she rambled all this Asami started crying because she'd seen Korra hurt plenty of times but it had never been her fault before. And seeing Asami cry made Korra cry, and they sat there crying and laughing at how ridiculous it was until the healer came in to tell her she'd just have to watch out for a concussion but she'd be okay.

Other times, when Korra slid a hand into her pocket and closed her fingers around the jewelry, the stone charm and the metal ring were hot against her skin like they were alive.

Like the time Korra had finally gotten back from a week-long diplomatic visit to the Fire Nation only to find Asami had to leave the next day for a business trip to Ba Sing Se and they'd shouted at each other because they missed each other so much it hurt and Korra had stormed out of their apartment only to stop in her tracks the moment her feet touched the pavement outside. She stared at the shimmering light of the Spirit Portal in the heart of the city, stretching up into the sky above the buildings, and she remembered how happy they had been there and how perfect everything had seemed there and how they had talked about how they knew it would be hard but it would be worth it because they were so in love. So she turned around and walked back into their home and they shouted a bit more but by the time the sun came up they were in bed together and Asami was gazing at her so fondly and so lovingly and so adoringly that neither of them ever stormed out again.

There were opportunities everywhere. Big moments, anniversaries, beautiful places, grand gestures. But Korra always stopped herself before she could pull out the necklace or the ring or both because what if it was too soon?

They had been together for three years when they found themselves alone at the kitchen table on Air Temple Island, sitting quietly in the aftermath of a rather disastrous lunch with Tenzin's family. Jinora had announced that she and Kai were thinking of getting an apartment together and after a good bit of shouting on the parts of Tenzin and Jinora and a good bit of laughing on the part of Ikki and Meelo and Bumi and a few failed attempts at moderation from Pema, Jinora had left in a huff and Tenzin had followed her and everyone else had gone after them.

"Well that was… eventful," Asami said with a cringe. They could still hear Tenzin shouting somewhere in the building.

"Do you think they're moving too fast?" Korra asked without thinking.

Asami glanced at her curiously.

"They've been together longer than we have and we've been living together for two years," she pointed out, a teasing lilt to her voice that made Korra blush.

"You're right, of course," she muttered, embarrassed. She fidgeted in her seat, unconsciously sliding her hand into her pocket and squeezing the necklace and ring in her fist.

"So are you ever going to show me what you've had in your pocket for at least a year?" Asami asked suddenly, and Korra nearly fell out of her seat in surprise.

"What are you… I mean… what?" Korra stammered, and Asami just rolled her eyes.

"I know you, Korra," Asami said gently, reaching across the table and taking Korra's free hand in her own. "You think I wouldn't notice you putting your hand in your pocket whenever you're feeling emotional?"

Korra grimaced. Of course she noticed. Subtlety wasn't her strongest suit.

"Okay… so there's something I've been thinking about," Korra sighed, squeezing Asami's hand.

"How long have you been thinking about it?" Asami asked, smiling at her fondly.

"Three years," Korra replied with a shrug. She grinned right back, blushing nervously. "You remember when we got lost in those woods in the Spirit World?" Asami nodded. "And I could finally see light ahead, so we were running toward it, and it ended up just being this huge clearing and on the other side were just more trees." Asami laughed and nodded again. "And you looked at me and held my hand, and you remember what you said?"

"Are we out of the woods yet?" Asami asked quietly, her smile so full and warm that Korra blushed even harder and glanced away.

"I'd been in love with you before that," Korra said with a breathless grin. "But that was the moment I knew I wanted to be with you forever."

She slowly pulled her hand from her pocket, placing the necklace and the ring side by side on the table. She looked up at Asami nervously, only to find the woman didn't look surprised at all. There was a pretty blush on her cheeks and warmth in her eyes as she reached into her jacket and Korra nearly fell out of her seat again when she deposited another necklace and another ring right beside the first.

Korra stared. The necklace looked a lot like Master Katara's, a dark blue ribbon for the necklace and a pale blue stone charm. The symbol of yin and yang was carved into it, but rather than the plain circles within each section, one was a small gear and the other was the spiral used in each bending emblem. The ring was a bright silver band carved to look like Raava twisting around her finger, a diamond-shaped blue stone in the center.

Korra looked up at Asami with wide eyes, her mouth open to speak but no words coming.

"I couldn't decide either," Asami said quietly, shrugging. Then she lifted Korra's hand and slid the ring onto her finger, tilting her head to admire how it looked. "I suppose we could both just wear both." She beckoned Korra forward with her finger and Korra leaned over the table without a thought. Asami smiled at that as she tied the necklace around her neck. "I know you're not a jewelry person, but you look lovely."

"How are you so calm about this?" Korra laughed helplessly, fumbling with her fingers as she slid the ring onto Asami's finger. Asami held up her hand to look at it, her eyes softening the very moment she recognized the shape as the Spirit Portal. Korra got to her feet and walked around the table, sweeping Asami's hair from her neck with warm hands and feeling the engineer shiver pleasantly at her touch.

"You're terrible at keeping secrets," Asami teased, carefully keeping still while Korra tied the necklace around her neck. The Avatar let her touch linger at her nape, closing her eyes at the sound of Asami's shaky sigh. "I figured it out a while ago. Helped me process, I guess."

"Well thanks for telling me," Korra muttered as she moved in front of Asami, sitting in her lap without preamble and wrapping her arms around her neck. She pressed them together from hips to heart, smiling against Asami's lips when she felt her hands sliding up her back. "I've been agonizing over this for ages."

"Why?" Asami laughed, tangling slender fingers up into Korra's hair and trailing wet little kisses across her jaw. Korra let out a breathy laugh, blushing like she always did when Asami lavished attention on her.

"At this moment I can't honestly remember," Korra sighed, tilting her head so Asami could have more access to her neck. She dug her fingers into Asami's shoulders when she felt her warm tongue on her skin. "I just… I guess I… I didn't know if we were…" She trailed off, biting her lip and letting out another pleased sigh.

"If we were out of the woods yet?" Asami asked, smirking as she lifted her lips from Korra's neck and looked her in the eyes. Their foreheads pressed warmly together, Korra twisting her ring on her finger and Asami brushing reverential fingers over the charm around her neck.

"Exactly," Korra murmured. Her lips quirked into a smile and her eyes slid closed comfortably. "I guess we are."

They didn't move from that spot until Jinora and Tenzin came bursting back into the room, followed closely by the rest. The argument was forgotten and they celebrated Korra and Asami's engagement long into the night.


End file.
